Interesting article

In doing some research on feeding Jack dairy and meat products, I came across this really good article.  We've made a lot of "different" decisions in regards to parenting, but the one I'm most passionate about is the importance of breastfeeding and extended breastfeeding.  And YES, of course Jack is still nursing as he approaches his 1st birthday! 

I feel sad that there isn't more push from doctors and at hospitals to breastfeed.  I mean, my OB/GYN gave me a lovely bag of formula samples and coupons when I was pregnant - what message does that send? 

Here is the article - check it out!!  Like I always say, when you know better you DO better!


On another note, this is an exerpt that I found interesting from another article.  It's a dietician's experience working in the NICU.  See the whole article HERE.

"I conducted my own small study. During my first year working in the NICU, 94 percent of infants were discharged with a diet of commercial infant formula. One hundred percent of the new mothers of these infants were able to breastfeed or pump their breast milk. And 100 percent of these same mothers were provided with prescriptions to enter the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) government program. This program provides free formula for the infant for the first six months of life.

The geographic area of this NICU has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country. Many young mothers confess their intention for having a baby was a larger government paycheck for the family unit, or the fact that they would receive free health insurance if they were pregnant. Often one would find a teen mother living with her parent or grandparent. The infant’s father was rarely present or involved, and was in fact usually unknown.

The average taxpayer cost for an infant in the NICU per day is approximately eighty-five hundred dollars. The average stay in our NICU was thirty-two days. The cost to taxpayers for infant formula provided by the WIC government program in 2009 was approximately eight hundred fifty million dollars.

When I asked these moms why they did not want to breastfeed the typical responses were:

“Breastfeeding is gross.” (This was the most common response.)

“My mom did not breastfeed and I want to do as she did.”

“It is easier to use the formula.”

“Why should I take my time? I have other things going on and I get the formula free.”

“The company says the formula is better for my baby.”

“I don’t get enough milk from the breast pump.”

When I asked nurses, other dietitians and physicians why they do not insist on breastfeeding the typical answer was: “It is not my job. That information should have been discussed at their gynecologist’s office before delivery.”

I feel the true reason many caregivers do not encourage breastfeeding is simply in order to feel better about their personal decisions regarding this topic. Many did not breastfeed their own children and seeing other women choose not to breastfeed helps them justify their own choice."

Boob Man

I know, I know....I love to talk about breastfeeding because it's been such a rewarding, magical (yes, magical!  my boobs are magic!) experience. 

However.  Sometimes I wish my son weren't such a boob man.  Sometimes momma needs a night out!  A night out where she doesn't have to worry about her wine tainted breastmilk being needed!  You see, last Friday night I had dinner and drinks planned with some of the women in my neighborhood.  I had 2 bottles of pumped milk ready to go for my loving husband who is fully capable of taking care of Jack on his own.  He already does our night time routine until we switch so I can nurse Jack.  Yes, most times I nurse him to sleep rather than putting him in down to "self soothe" (don't get all up in arms....there is a place and time for self soothing!).

Anywho.  A couple weeks ago my mom and dad were babysitting and my mom tried to give Jack a bottle before bed and he promptly threw it back at her.  Luckily, she was able to get him to sleep by rocking him.  I figured Matt would have more luck.  Jack sure does love his dadda!

Not so much. 

Apparently Jack will not be fooled by this artificial nipple coming from someone that is certainly not his momma.  Again, Jack threw the bottle on the floor and would have none of that.  Even when Matt pretended (pretended!  just try the stuff already!) to drink it himself.  This was at 8:00pm. 

Fast forward to 9:30pm when I got home.  Matt looks exhausted and exasperated laying in bed with a fussy Jack trying to get him to sleep.  I know he pulled out all the tricks.  He was just missing the best trick of all.....the boob! 

So I pick up my sweet little boy and take him into his room, nurse him for 3 minutes and he is OUT!  I come downstairs (literally 5 minutes after I got home) and Matt gives me this look of jealousy. 

Sorry honey, he's a boob man! 

Funny!

Feeling inadequate?

If you've checked out my Facebook page lately, you may have found some parenting/facebook drama going on. 

Here's the scoop: 

One of my "friends" posted a status that, in part, stated "My kids call me Mom. Not "natural, organic, granola, cloth diapering, breast feeding, non-immunizing, baby wearing, co-sleeping, home birthing Mom." They just say Mom.". Now if you know me, you know that I did not take to reading that kindly, being that I felt like this was directed towards me and/or one of my good friends.  I do not take any major parenting decision lightly and didn't appreciate what I interpreted as mocking and being disrespectful of my choices.  

After lots of comments by moms who supported her status (of course all disposable diapering, formula feeding, immunizing, take my baby in a car seat everywhere, sleeping in a crib and hospital birthing ones) she ended with a comment stating that "Several of my friends have stated they feel inadequate when they are bombarded by all these decisions and choices regarding their children.". 


Seriously?!?!?!  I'm sorry that you can't just put blinders on and follow the path of standard parenting and have been exposed to a different way of doing things via a sharing of articles/opinions on Facebook.  If MY decisions regarding MY child and MY family make you feel inadequate, then maybe you should reevaluate why you make your decisions. Because I'll never let anyone make me feel inadequate....especially when it comes to caring for my family.  


I hate that the posts turned into an US ("natural" moms) vs THEM ("less natural?" moms) because I don't ever look at it like that.  I have many friends that have made different choices than I have and I DON'T CARE!!  They are doing what is best for them and that deserves respect. 

Besides, in 10 years I'd rather my child look back fondly on the times spent sharing a book, singing songs, exploring the outdoors, doing art projects and bath time with his dad.  Those moments make a good parent....putting him in an adorable orange cloth diaper is just the icing on the cake!  


End Rant.  

Sh*t New Moms Say

Profile pictures

Even before I was pregnant, I was always bothered by those people that have their child(ren) as their Facebook profile picture.  I mean, I get it, you love your children and you want to show them off....but Facebook is for adults and I want to see a profile picture of the actual person I'm friends with, not their offspring!  This rings especially true if you want to "Request" me as your "Friend"....I have 2 requests that I haven't responded to because all I see is a newborn and 2 kids with a dog.  Who are you even?!?

Plus, I feel like if you have your child as your profile picture you have completely lost all sense of self and individuality.  Show off what YOU look like, or at least hop into that picture with your child!

No offense to some of my favorite mamas of course - just another one of my opinions and I still love you!  That's all.  :)

$25 Cold

This past Sunday we did what every new parent must do at one point during the first year.  We brought Jack to Urgent Care to be diagnosed with.......

A cold.  A plain old fashioned cold.

The thing is, he woke up early Sunday morning with this horrible cough and if you've been flooded with that whooping cough/pertussis commercial as much as I have, you'd head straight to Urgent Care too!  Of course, once we got there he had slowly progressed into his happy, smiley self, which was even more embarrassing.  I mean, he smiled at the doctor and didn't even do his cough once while being examined!  Way to make us look like crazy parents, Jack!

Anyway, he's fine, and the rest of the day was spent on a blow up bed in the living room.  Not a bad way to spend a Sunday!

Which came first?

This past weekend, Matt and I left Jack for a night out for only the 4th time since he was born.  It's always a hard thing for me to do because of course I want a much needed night out with my husband, but the idea of leaving my little guy makes my heart hurt.  I miss him when we're not together.  

And those feelings got me thinking - how come I react this way?  How come I can't detach from my son, who is always left with his loving grandparents, for just a couple hours?  I read on Facebook (oh, Facebook...) about a mother going with her husband and some friends for a long weekend in Mexico, sans 5 month old baby and I can't help but feel jealous.  At first thought, a long weekend out of town with my husband sounds like a great thing.....but in my heart, that won't be able to happen for at least a couple years (pending more children, of course!).  Pathetic?  Maybe to some of you.  But to me it just seems right.

In hindsight, I'm wondering if the choices I've made throughout Jack's life have made me this attached to him or if I would have always been this attached to my son.  After some thought, I can honestly say it's more of the latter.  From birth, every choice we've made promoted bonding, even if it was by default.  After he was born at home, Matt and I were the sole caretakers after everyone left a couple hours later.  There were no nurses to bathe him, change his diaper, swaddle him, take him to a nursery so we could get some sleep.  We were it.  The first several months of Jack's life he slept in between us, and was only in his own room for a month or so before I could no longer ignore the feeling that it just didn't seem right having him away from us.  Now he's right back where he started.  If Jack went somewhere with us he was always wrapped on my body.  I'm still nursing and am 75% of his nutrition, how can you not bond while nursing that much?  Add to all that me staying at home and you have one mama that loves to be with her baby! 

All these choices have been the foundation of our bond, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  The thing is, I see and know other moms who do feel the exact same way I do and may or may not have done some of the same things I did.  They are not inclusive of one another, obviously.  But I can't help but wonder if I would have been the same mother I am today if I had made different choices.

For now and for the sake of our future children, I'm not going to risk it.  :)

Sh*t Crunchy Mamas Say

True!

I always keep this thought in my head when the alarm goes off at 4:45am most days of the week!

P90x

So, I'm sure you're wondering how your favorite fit mama is doing right?!  Well, after the Chicago marathon in October I went on a little hiatus because of the move and adjusting to being a stay at home mom in my very own home (instead of at the 'rents).  I didn't do a single exercise for a couple weeks and it was not fun!  Sure I was lifting boxes, going up and down 3 flights of stairs way too much and walking Clifford 1-2 miles a day...which may pass off as exercise for some of you but for me?  Not so much.  I felt sluggish and gross.  Luckily, good 'ol breastfeeding kept me at my pre baby weight but my pre baby thighs were looking a little soft. 

Then I snapped out of it and went to the library and got some workout DVD's, which is my least favorite way to workout.  However, I wasn't up to getting out in the cold pushing the stroller and having to deal with either leaving Clifford at home or taking him (excuses, excuses!).  After hits and misses I got Jillian Michael's "No More Trouble Zones" and had lots of success with that.  If you're looking for a new DVD, give this one a try!

Well that did the job for a couple months before we bit the bullet and bought........duh, duh, duh.....P90x!  We may be the last people to jump on this train, but who cares, we LOVE it!  Matt wasn't working out at all either after the marathon, minus a few random runs on the treadmill, so despite the price he was happy to start an actual program.  Now we are up 4 mornings a week at 5:00am and during Jack's nap time on the weekends working out.  I think we're on day 26 right now and have made a lot of gains strength wise.  We weighed ourselves and took measurements and pictures on day 1, which I may get the courage to post depending on the stats at day 30.  I'm only looking to lose maybe 5 pounds to get right around 130lb.  Muscle weighs more than fat and I love the look of toned arms and legs, so I won't sweat the scale to much.  Get it?  Sweat?  Haha!  I'm sure Matt will be able to gain a lot of muscle easily....but don't worry, you won't be looking at a muscle head because it's just not in his DNA!  Stay tuned for our 30 day update!

What's new with Jack!

So what has Jack been up to these days?  Well, he's a busy busy boy!  He is now doing his funky crawl (video below) all over the house and is like spider man, pulling himself up on anything and everything!  He is signing "more", "dadda" (so says Matt!) and "milk" but understands many more.  In the mornings he loves sneaking into the shower whether someone is in it or not, just to splash in the water!  He likes to dance to music almost as much as he loves to either turn it up or take a CD out of the player.  If there is a remote or cell phone on the floor - he's on it!  Same if Clifford is on the floor. 

We started swimming lessons once a week in the mornings, which he of course LOVES.  I'm so happy he's comfortable in the water already and want to keep getting him in the water to continue this. 

Jack got his first cold a couple weeks ago, and was a snotty mess!  I feel very fortunate that this was the first time he was sick and that it was so mild - complete credit goes to being at home with me and breastmilk!

Speaking of, he is still nursing several times during the day and night and we hope to continue as long as it works for us both.  Yes, that means beyond his 1st birthday and well past it hopefully!  As far as food, right now his favorite is oranges.  In fact, he ate a whole clementine today and turned his nose up to my homemade whole wheat blueberry pancakes.  Humph.  He eats whatever we eat, including lots of black beans, avocado, quinoa, corn, blueberries, apples, scrambled eggs and pasta.  We haven't given him any meat yet because we insist that it be grass fed and organic, but we plan on it once our farmers market opens back up and it becomes readily available.  So no, he won't be a vegetarian like his mama!  ;)

When we first moved into our house, we had Jack transition to his crib.  This worked well for the first couple months, when he was only waking up to nurse once or twice.  Fast forward to 4 teeth coming in at once and a cold and he is now in our bed!  Cosleeping just feels right to both of us and we all sleep better (most nights!).  We put him to bed in his crib and then he comes into bed with us after his first wake up.  Say what you want, it works for us!

Anyway, I think I covered the big topics of playing, eating and sleeping.  Pooping will be a separate post if you're interested!

We're still here - don't you worry!

After much bugging from my lovely sisters, I've decided to get back on the blog train.  Especially because I have lots of opinions and feel like I can post topics of interest here versus on Facebook because let's face it, people are sensitive to every single parenting choice out there! 

So, what have the Zernicke's been up to the past 3 months?  Here are the highlights....

• We moved into our new house in Holland in the middle of October and are completely settled in now, but have lots of purchases to make yet.  We need new furniture (CLIFFORD....!), something for above the fireplace, some book shelves (that AREN'T from Ikea!), landscaping and a new tv or two.  We'll get there though.  We love our house though!  It's 5 bedrooms/3.5 baths with a finished basement, open floor plan and a nice big deck.  Our neighborhood is full of kids and has easy access to a ton of trails leading to the beach and parks.  
• In November we spent a long weekend in Phoenix visiting friends and eating our favorite foods....we miss it so much.
• Thanksgiving was spent with my family in South Haven, where Jack didn't enjoy any Turkey but had some mashed potatoes, bread and veggies.  Matt, sister Carrie and I did a TurkeyTrot 5k too - Carrie won of course!  
• In the beginning of December we had a housewarming party/Decemberfest (in honor of the Novemberfest party we put on in Phoenix).  In the past year, 3 of our favorite couples also moved from Phoenix back to the midwest, so it was great to have them over to our house and reunite for the night!  My family came for a little bit, as well as some of our new friends.  We just love hosting parties and hope to do another one in the summer!  
• We celebrated the holidays with Matt's family in Wisconsin, where Jack loved watching his 2 cousins (who are 7) play around and be silly for him!  We also flew down to Florida (Jack's 4th roundtrip airplane ride!) for a week with my family.  We were in a big house, so there was lots of help with Jack and Matt, sister Carrie and I got to go for lots of runs on the beach in the mornings.  Such a treat these days!  Jack LOVED the pool at our house and is becoming quite the water baby!
• We returned to Michigan for NYE, where our family was all asleep before midnight - LAME!  :)  

That's about it!  Here are some pictures of the fam from the last couple months: